Something blocks EventLog registry key under Windows 8

Question

I have a problem with Windows 8.

Something blocks any access to any subkeys of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\EventLog. As a result many applications can't be installed.

I can see the list of those subkeys but cannot access them in any way. When I click on a subkey, a message pops up indicating that the key cannot be opened because of an error, Access denied.

I also can't edit the Security Settings of the keys because of the same message.

I had this problem two days ago and I re-installed my OS. This fixed the problem, but after a day it occurred again. I have the following applications installed: Office 2010, VS2012, WebMatrix, Avast! Antivirus, Google Chrome and Google Picasa.

I've uninstalled Avast, but the keys were still blocked.

Answer 1

This sounds like the same problem has here: Remove Libraries from Windows 8 Explorer sidebar

The below taken from the answer by FiveO (which has images).

1. Open the "Permission..." on the ShellFolder and open the "Advanced" settings
2. Change the Owner to "Administrators"

Now you can set "Full Control" to the Administrators and change the values.